


A Slip Nothing More

by Arlissa



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 16:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17749403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arlissa/pseuds/Arlissa
Summary: One day Lily accidentally uses a first name instead of a last. A bigger deal is made out of it than anyone expects.





	A Slip Nothing More

**Author's Note:**

> This is just some good ol fluff and 95% brain dump after a conversation with friends about (what else) HP head canon.
> 
> Sorry for the never ending tense changes and the excessive use of the enter key.

“Hi James.”

What a nightmare.

Two. Words.

Really just one.

 _One_ word and it’s managed to throw her whole world upside down.

\----

How could she have let it slip?

Lily Evans covered her face with both hands, trying desperately to will the look of utter shock from her face. Trying not to draw the attention of Slughorn or her table mate or… you know… him.

Potter.

It’s _Potter_ . It’s always _been_ Potter.

Six and a half years of dodging advances. Of rolling her eyes. Of standing up to his vanity and nonsense. Of slowly pulling him and his friends from their tendency to “lightly haze” anyone not in their group.

Through it all he’d called her all sorts of things.

Oi, you!

Ginger.

She wolf.

Evans.

Hey Evans.

Lily Evans.

Lily.

Lil (She shut that one down very quickly. Her name only had 4 letters as it was. Shortening it was ridiculous and sounded like a mouth full of chewed sausage.)

 

And though he’d always been Potter to her, the things she called him in her head had shifted instead.

Prat.

Bully.

Tit.

Exhausting.

Show-off.

Tolerable.

Tease.

Reluctant last minute study partner.

Flirt.

Purveyor of whispered jokes during quiet nights in the common room.

A surprisingly excellent listener after a rough night studying for their N.E.W.T.s.

A rare smile in the crowded great hall on rainy mornings.

 

Through it all, she had to stick to Potter.

 

Lily knew he liked her. He’d been tripping over himself for years trying to sort out what all those butterflies in his stomach meant. She had spotted it in their third year, transparent silly boy that he was. Back then she’d used it to her advantage. Potter was a self-important bully and she long ago had decided that making him wallow in confused hormones was a crueler rebuff than any outright confrontation.

 

As they grew older he... improved. Not completely of course. He and Black still wound each other up too much to completely leave the idiotic acting behind them. It didn’t help that they both were especially protective of Lupin. Any hint of someone snickering in his direction and the two of them would turn from mild jerks to outright vindictive rage.

 

Which made no sense to Lily. Remus Lupin was extremely bright, soft, handsome… if he was just a little more outgoing, Lily would have snatched him up _ages_ ago. Why he palled around with the other three nitwits was beyond her. (Though it was obvious why they stuck to him. He was their moral center. Aaaand she was pretty sure Black was smitten since day one. Too bad neither one of them would ever figure it out. At least not for a long while.)

 

But then sixth year happened. Last year Potter finally realized that adulthood might not forgive his brashness just because he had nice hair and could fly well. He suddenly buttoned up. And even though she knew she should maybe, _finally_ , put him out of his unrequited misery, Lily couldn’t help but admit she’d become accustomed to his attention.

 

And so she started giving it back.

 

She found that his jokes could make her laugh. When he ran up to her in the common room like a niffler with a shiny coin, she didn’t mind putting down her book to engage him in conversation.

 

But even now, he was Potter. Friendly though they may be, she didn’t want to accidentally give him hope that wasn’t there.

 

Merlin’s beard HOW could she have forgotten?

\----

She had been up late studying and decided to skip breakfast in favor of a lie in. And, of course, had slept a little too long.

 

She’d had to sprint to the dungeons to make it to potions on time. Slughorn gave her slightly noisey entrance a smile and slight finger wag from his desk at the front, while Potter had spun nearly 180 in his chair to watch her embarrassed walk toward her table. 

As she walked past his seat, he put his chin in his hand and said “Finally! I’ve been waiting _ages_ to say good morning to Lily Evans!”

Never breaking her stride she rolled her eyes and looked back at him, replying “Hi James.”

It wasn’t until bum hit stool that she realized her mistake.

 

Seconds felt like minutes. Minutes felt like years. And her face was still hiding behind her hands and she waited for the sky to fall.

 

But it didn’t. Disaster appeared diverted. Slughorn set the instructions on the board and warned them all that they’d need the whole class to prepare the potion for the day so they’d better get cracking.

Lily scanned the list ( _Oh I’ve got this easy_ ) and allowed the panic to leave her shoulders. Brewing a new potion always set her mind at ease.

She stood to grab a few things from the cupboard she’d need and then everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

 

One step.

Two steps.

_Don’t look at him. He didn’t notice. Just don’t look._

Her gaze wanders to the left.

Green eyes met hazel.

Three steps.

She sees his eyes go wide.

_Oh no._

His jaw drops.

Four steps.

Five steps.

She draws level with him table.

She can’t look away.

 

“DID YOU CALL ME JAMES?!”

 

Lily immediately shot her gaze to the floor, as the class around them snickered at the odd outburst.

 

_Keep walking. Pretend you didn’t notice it._

 

“That’s your name Mister Potter. I do hope it’s not surprising to you. Not so loud next time, eh?” Slughorn called jovially from the front of the room.

 

Lily didn’t hear Potter’s response over the sound of her own traitorous heartbeat.

 

_This isn’t going to end well._

 

Lily buried herself in work for the rest of the period, but intense concern for how to get herself out of a very deep hole made focusing hard. She was lucky Slughorn liked her. Her potion was looking paler than she’d expected.

Unsurprisingly, Potter sidled right up to her when class let out.

 

“I wasn’t hearing things, right? You called me James.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Lily, you NEVER call me James!”

“Potter can’t you-“

“Cmon! Say James again. It was perfect.”

"You're starting to annoy me."

"J A M E S - it's only five letters!" 

She steeled her nerves and took a deep breath, and looked up at his face finally.

 

_God. He's beaming._

That smile. 

Those eyes.

See now _this_ is why she was usually careful. She did like Potter. As a friend. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

 

“Potter. It’s just a name. And it was just a slip. Don’t get hung up on things that don't matter.”

 

His smile fades. And her heart breaks oh so slightly.

 

“And if they matter to me?“

 

_Well now I feel awful._

 

“Potter. C'mon. We’ll be late for Defense.”

 

Lily walks out, expecting him to follow as he always did.

 

And he hesitates. But seems to shake off his short lived melancholy and jogs after her, catching up easily.

 

“Sure whatever you say, _Evans_.”

 

She sneaks a glance at him for that. _Back to Evans? Is he angry?_

 

But he catches her stare and smiles wickedly.

 

 _Damn_. He knew she’d look. He’d been baiting her and she fell for it.

 

Well. She’d just have to be more careful.

\----

James spent the rest of the week acting like everything was normal. As if nothing had happened between them.

 

_And he’s right! Nothing happened! It’s just a name for goodness sake. There’s no reason to be worked up._

_I’m not worked up._

 

Then why, every time he called her name, every time he emphasized it, did he smile as if he knew a secret?

 

As if calling her Evans instead of Lily made any sort of difference to their relationship.

 

“Evans, do you know what this rune means?”

“Evans! Up for a game of gobstones?”

“Evans! Wanna know my family dog’s name?”

“Eeevvvvvaaaaannnsss. I’m bored let’s go for a walk!”

 

Every time he said it she grimaced. Not because she cared that he was using her surname. But because it was a reminder that she had slipped up and now she was dealing with the fallout.

 

She sat up on her bed 3 days after the incident and groaned loudly, gathering her hair into a fist and tugging on lightly. She'd barely made it 72 hours before snapping at him, telling him to back off before heading up here to her room. 

 

_Why should I care about his silly crush anymore? It doesn't matter to me!_

 

But that wasn’t true. Not for a long time now.

 

Potter was a friend.

But an insufferable flirt.

Whose whispered jokes made her roll her eyes, but created a warm feeling inside her.

He was an excellent listener, and after that rough night studying for their N.E.W.T.s she liked going to him when she needed to vent.

His smile in the crowded great hall automatically made her smile back, even on grey and rainy mornings.

 

Oh.

_Oh no._

 

She hadn’t been protecting his feelings. She’d been denying her own.

She’d called him James because she’d _wanted_ to.

He wasn’t just Potter. Not anymore.

He was James.

The flirt. The joker. The listener. The smiler.

 

 _James_.

 

She laid back on her pillow with a huff. Her arm bent over her eyes as she came to a conclusion she should have worked out ages ago.

 

_Tomorrow is going to be interesting._

\-----

“Morning Evans!”

 

Bounding with energy, and gasping for her attention, James Potter clearly was not acting as though today was going to be a special day.

 

Lily smirked to herself, but kept walking away without so much as a glance in his direction.

 

“Evans? Hello?”

 

Lily was determined to get as far away from the Great Hall as she could. She may be a Gryffindor, but she was afraid that a crowd would sap all her bravery from her. She sped up.

 

She could hear his steps behind her turn into a jog.

 

“Wait Evans. Evans! Lily!”

 

Her feet stopped as she recognized the panic in his voice.

 

_Here we go._

 

Lily could feel James behind her. She didn’t dare turn around or she’d give away the intense flush in her cheeks, or the way she couldn’t stop biting her bottom lip.

 

“Lily, I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would bug you so much. I don’t care that you call me Potter, it’s fine, I get it. I’m sorry I’ve been calling you Evans. I didn’t know you didn’t like it. I just… please don’t ignore me.”

 

_He's probably messing up his hair pretty intently right now._

 

“I know last night you yelled at me but I thought it was just cause you had a headache or like girl problems-”

 

Lily didn’t dare turn around yet.

 

“-But if actually you’re mad at me I’m sorry. I was just teasing! You know me, I can’t help but dig in sometimes. I just hope you know that I didn’t mean to upset you. I promise I won’t bring up the name thing anymore just please talk to me normal again?”

 

_No more waiting._

 

Lily set her face into a stone mask and whipped around to face him. Just fast enough to make him startle.

 

One step.

Two steps.

She’s right in front of him.

 

Lily cranes her head up and looks him square in the eye and recognizes genuine worry there.

 

_He’s so damn adorable._

 

“I promise I won’t talk about the name thing anymore. Will you forgi-”

 

Lily lifts both her hands up to his face, and she sees him bracing for a slap that he thinks he deserves. But instead she places them on his cheeks gingerly and pulls his focus straight on her.

 

_He’s so confused and it’s hilarious._

 

“James.”

 

His eyes are wide as he recognizes what's happening.

 

_I can’t tell if he’s delighted or terrified._

 

“...What?”

 

“You talk too much.”

 

And she kisses him.


End file.
